I don't remember anything from the rest of that week that really stood out as a key event to we will just skip along there and assume I ate at the noodle place a good number of times and probably hit the pool tables once or twice as well. Friday night I hit the pool tables again I remember and aided by my good friend Mr. Johnny Walker I managed to beat the guy who runs the little hat noodle place a couple of times before hitting the sack.
Saturday morning I was woken up in a hurry by Sam as we found out we could catch a ride to Shenzhen with Mike if we got out the door in ten minutes or less. We made it, but I forgot my phone. We ended up going into Hong Kong with Mike to drop off some things at the Hong Kong Office if for no other reason than to see where it was. We had planned on grabbing a hotel in Shenzhen, but Mike offered up his place instead and we were able to save a couple bucks. We headed back to mikes place after HK and caught a couple Z's in preparation for a night out. This was aided by a few beers and pizza at lunch. Mike lives in Shekou (don't know how to spell it) a mostly expat area of Shenzhen with higher prices but western comforts, so pizza isn't tough to come by.
We went out for the night and hit up the local bar scene which is dominated by live bands doing covers to what I would consider a very high standard. I was far more impressed with the two I saw than the ones we'd seen in HK on other nights. We checked out the bars most famous in the area which are those inside a cruise ship that was toed and permanently erected in the center of Shekou. I grabbed a photo of it the next day which can be seen here. We watched some rugby there and people watched, which mostly involved staring curiously at the older men who had chosen to blatantly disregard social acceptance and acquire themselves young Chinese girlfriends. This is far from being unusual in all of Asia it seems, but none the less it is curious every time you see it. We had gotten a deal which netted us 12 beers, but that didn't suit Sam too well and on the way out he coughed up his portion of them over the railing of what you could call the boarding ramp. We walked around a bit more before calling it a night. By which time Sam had spit out some choice lines regarding tunnel vision while drunk and the lack of taxis when a taxi stand was two blocks ahead. We headed back to Mikes place and all crashed, Sam on the couch, me in the guest bed, and Mike in his room. This would have all been hunky-dory if that had been where we woke up as well. I woke up last and came out to find Mike cooking up some buns and dumplings for Sam. He through some more in for me which was a pleasant surprise as I had assumed I would have to wait until I got out the door to grab a bite. It was then explained to me that Sam had woken up at some point in the night still in a drunken state and wandered into Mikes room where he proceeded to slip into bed with Mike without his knowledge. Needless to say Mike woke up a little surprised, and while there was no harm done it definitely will be brought up on many more occasions before this coop is through by both me and the other Americans...
Double Fail! I wrote everything before this two weeks ago then never finished so I will attempt to sum up what happened between then and now here.
Alec came with his girlfriend to Shenzhen the following weekend I believe. We went out Friday and Saturday night and I will be sure to include some pictures here of that.
We did some Karaoke and drinking along the way and Alec's girlfriend is Chinese so having a translator on hand was pretty handy. We hit up what had to be the nicest pool hall I have ever been to on the Saturday he was here. The place is dominated by snooker, a different form of pool that is far more popular in Asia, look here. We were able to play on a normal table though and laid low for the night mostly. We went to this amusement park the next day that can be best described as Chinese, it was all pretty 
old and taped together kiddie rides. We did hit up the bumper cars though and seeing kids falling over everywhere inside inflatable spheres similar to those seen in the move The Avengers on a man made pond was fun in itself. I do want to point out the Asians came at us hard in the bumper cars, it was apparently kill whitey time and they all knew it. Alec went home Monday morning and I returned to the factory before that on Sunday night. That following week is a blur but I will try to recall the next weekend best I can.Sam and I went back to Shekou assuming we would meet up with Mike on Saturday, but he was helping Bill move into a new apartment so he didn't make it back in time to go out Saturday night. Sam and I went back to the beached ship and hit up the bar in there for the night. Some how we started talking with a kid named AJ who manages the bar currently as his dad is the owner. This led to a fair deal of boozing and pool playing until we moved to his fathers other business, a late night BBQ pit. We were there till the wee hours of the morning and taxied it back to Mikes apartment afterward. Rising around the crack of 2 p.m. the next day we settled in and waited for Mike to finish up helping Bill. Mike and I went for a haircut when he got back while Sam grabbed us pizzas. The haircut included a head massage that lasted 30 minutes or so and a hair cut that was more detailed than anything I was used to, all this for about $6. We went back to Mikes and chowed down on pizza while watching a movie and drinking some fine Great Wall wine till we all called it a night in anticipation of catching a early bus in the morning back to the factory. Another week went by here in which I know Mike returned to the US on vacation.
Next weekend was Hong Kong Rugby Sevens. For most of the world this may mean nothing, but for rugby fans, especially Australians it seemed, this was a huge event. 7 players, two 7 minute halves. We went on the fi
rst day, Friday, which was a little more mild then the rest of the weekend, and therefore cheaper. Basically people get dressed up in crazy costumes, get drunk, and watch rugby. We went with Bill (co-worker) and his girlfriend Giang (pronounced Song) to the match and met up with Will, another NEU student we met at the NEU event in Hong Kong. Now initially we planned to go back to Shekou after the matches but this wasn't to be. Aft
er the games ended at 9 p.m. we went out to the bars with Will who offered us his floor to crash on. After that the night was a mess of food and booze. We went with Will and his friends from bar to bar with the Sevens weekend attitude of over consumption on all fronts. I think some pictures here will more accurately show the gyst of the night. I will say our final stop at a Chinese food place next to Will's apartment was epic though, specifically the fried shrimp that seem a blur in my memory.I woke up on a wooden floor the next morning with my wallet significantly lighter. We shot over to Flying Pan, a US breakfast restaurant, with the guidance of Will to meet up with Bill, Giang, and Danielle (co-worker) for some grub. Afterward Sam, Bill, and Giang, went to the movies while Danielle and I went to a book store, I had already seen the movie, Shutter Island. I picked up Liar's Poker and went to a Starbucks with Danielle. I was still pretty hazy at this point and wearing the same clothes as the heavy night before without a shower. We had planned to return to Shekou asap but Melissa'
s (co-worker) parents were in town and invited us all out to dinner so we obliged. After coming out of the movies Bill invited Sam and I to shower at his place which was a welcome gift in the state I was in. We went to dinner with Melissa's parents who have lived in Hong Kong and I believe reside in Singapore much of the year, and afterward went to LKF (bar area) with them. They told us about how not too much had changed in LKF since they were younger and hanging out there, but being Seven's weekend there were many dressed up people stumbling around so it was a bit more out of control than normal. This was
no surprise for Melissa's parents as they had come this weekend for the Sevens specifically. We met some private high school recruiters while hanging around and I talked to them about Westminster as they knew the school, and some people we were mutual acquaintances with. Sam and I left for Shekou around 11:30 p.m. and didn't get there until close 2 a.m. at which point we were happy to have beds for the night. The water wasn't working at Mike's apartment so we returned to the factory early Sunday after hitting some balls at the Shekou driving range.I think I am almost caught up now, last week I played squash and messed up my leg a bit so I was limping from Tuesday on. Other than that though the week was uneventful. Friday I went in to Hong Kong with Melissa and we ate at Dan Ryan's, a Chicago style bar and grill with American food. Will actually works for the company that owns them but was in Shanghai for the weekend so he wasn't around. We called it an early night and passed out at Melissa's new apartment, aka Bill's old apartment. The wooden floor wasn't so hot on my back but I dealt.
Saturday Melissa went with Giang to get a facial while I got pizza and sat around and read waiting for Sam to arrive, he stayed in Shekou Friday because he had to do an airport pickup Friday afternoon, something I somehow avoided. When he arrived we met up with Melissa and went to Stanley Market, I forgot my camera but a quick description is it is the back side of Hong Kong island where there are great views and expensive apartments and homes. There are bars over there we thought we would hang at for the night but as it died down we decided to go to LKF instead. We hit up LKF until about 1a.m. when we went and met up with Justin(co-worker) by his apartment in Central at Inside-Out, a previously mentioned restaurant and bar. We left there at 2a.m. and grabbed some of Melissa's bags she had left in Justin's apartment, he gave us some extra blankets that resulted in a far better nights sleep on the floor when we got back to Melissa's place.
Sunday Sam and I attempted to find the wet market in Kowloon, we failed, instead we found many other markets with tourist goods, meat, and goldfish, that can be
seen here. We then went to meet up with a family friend of Sam's who is in his early 30's living in Hong Kong, we 
watched some of the NCAA Final Four with them before returning to Melissa's to grab our stuff and heading to Shekou for the night. An interesting thing that came up while talking to Sam's family friend was that he had lived in Simsbury, my home town, until he was 11. 
Small world. We headed out in Shekou around 11p.m. when we got there. We had work off Monday so making a bus was no worry. We met up with AJ at the bar in the ship and spent a good three plus hours shooting the shit and drinking beers. They have Sam Adams there which is a draw for Sam and I. We met some of the local characters who are there pretty often according to AJ and are originally from a large variety of countries it seemed. But China and buisness land a lot of people in Shekou it seems.Monday was a dud, we cleaned up mikes apartment, grabbed some Indian food and headed back to the factory. We had slept most of the day so even with so little done we still didn't get back until 9p.m. But like always returning to your own bed always is a good feeling. I stayed up far too late as my excess of sleep didn't allow me to pass out easily.
And now I am here, caught up as it seems, but mostly through abbreviation. To those who are actually interested in what I am doing sorry I haven't caught up. And for those looking for more culture in China info, I will try to throw more of that into my update next time and less about my drinking escapades around Asia.
